er to the class of luxuries. The maize, or, as
it is popularly called when the pods are severed from the
stem, 'mealies,' is the very staff of life to a Kaffir; as
it is from the mealies that is made the thick porridge on
which the Kaffir chiefly lives. If a European hires a
Kaffir, whether as guide, servant, or hunter, he is obliged
to supply him with a stipulated quantity of food, of which
the maize forms the chief ingredient. Indeed, so long as the
native of Southern Africa can get plenty of porridge and
sour milk, he is perfectly satisfied with his lot. When
ripe, the ears of maize are removed from the stem, the leafy
envelope is stripped off, and they are hung in pairs over
sticks until they are dry enough to be taken to the
storehouse."[85]

The cattle are cared for by the men, and women are not allowed to
engage in the hunt for wild animals. The cattle among the mountain and
sandstone tribes are of a fine stock, but those of the tribes in the
alluvia, like their owners, are small and sickly.

The African pays more attention to his weapons of offensive warfare
than he does to his wives; but in many instances he is quite skilful
in the handicrafts.

"The Ishogo people are noted throughout the neighboring
tribes for the superior quality and fineness of the
_bongos_, or pieces of grass-cloth, which they manufacture.
They are industrious and skilful weavers. In walking down
the main street of Mokenga, a number of _ouandjas_, or
houses without walls are seen, each containing four or five
looms, with the weavers seated before them weaving the
cloth. In the middle of the floor of the _ouandjay_ a
wood-fire is seen burning; and the weavers, as you pass by,
are sure to be seen smoking their pipes, and chatting to one
another whilst going on with their work. The weavers are all
men, and it is men also who stitch the _bongos_ together to
make _denguis_ or robes of them; the stitches are not very
close together, nor is the thread very fine, but the work is
very neat and regular, and the needles are of their own
manufacture. The _bongos_ are very often striped, and
sometimes made even in check patterns; this is done by their
dyeing some of the threads of the warp, or of both warp and
woof, with various simple colors; the dyes are all made of
decoctions of dif